In Canadian society, the narrative of multiculturalism can lean toward a “colour-blind” ideology — a comforting idea that race doesn’t matter and everyone is treated the same — even though such narratives mask persistent inequalities. They may also undermine efforts to address structural racism.

Yet race is always present, regardless of whether it’s consciously acknowledged. It surfaces in questions like “Where are you really from?” or in the invitation to “represent diversity” that comes with no real influence.

This is polite racism: a form of exclusion hidden behind civility.

Polite racism doesn’t make headlines, but its message is clear — you are present, yet not fully accepted.

My recent peer-reviewed study explores how first- and second-generation Haitian and Jamaican Canadians navigate these exclusions.

What polite racism looks like

The study involved conducting interview focus groups with first- and second-generation Haitian and Jamaican Canadians (ages 25–45) in Ottawa, and Gatineau, Que.

Findings from my study show that polite racism manifests in academic and professional settings. Haitian and Jamaican participants recounted instances where their research interests were minimized, their accents scrutinized or their presence tokenized in “diversity” spaces without corresponding influence.

For example, participants described:

• A project on immigrant experiences dismissed as “more advocacy than scholarship.”

• An accent scrutinized while expertise is ignored.

• A racialized employee invited to every diversity panel, but passed over for promotion.

Resonance with broader patterns

These examples are grounded in participant narratives from my study, but they also resonate with broader patterns identified in research on race and exclusion. As interdisiplinary Black studies scholar Rinaldo Walcott argues in Black Like Who?, Canada’s multiculturalism often tolerates difference while simultaneously pushing racialized people to the margins.

Work on perception by psychologist and neurophysiologist Jacobo Grinberg helps explain why polite racism endures. He argued that reality is filtered through “perceptual fields” shaped by cultural narratives and collective belief.

In Canada, these fields have been conditioned by false histories and omissions, training society to see racialized difference as threat rather than connection. Polite racism survives not only through institutions but also through these internalized ways of seeing, which make exclusion feel natural, even polite.

Read more: Black Londoners of Canada: Digital mapping reveals Ontario's Black history and challenges myths

The unseen toll

One of the most corrosive effects of polite racism on Black and racialized people is what I call duplicity of consciousness, drawing on the work of sociologist and historian W.E.B. Du Bois. Du Bois wrote about the concept of double consciousness — the tension of seeing oneself through both Black and white lenses.

Duplicity of consciousness captures the rupture that occurs when the promise of belonging collides with the reality of exclusion dressed in civility. It is the burden of entering spaces that promise inclusion but only on conditional terms — acceptance often requires minimizing or reshaping one’s identity to conform to whiteness as the dominant norm.

The constant demand of code-switching, suppressing frustration and remaining silent to avoid backlash, exposes the painful divide between the illusion of belonging and the lived reality of exclusion.

Polite racism is real — and harmful

Until the fear that underpins polite racism is dismantled, inclusion will remain conditional and incomplete. For example, a 2024 KPMG survey of 1,000 Black professionals in Canada found that 81 per cent had experienced racism or microaggressions at work, with women disproportionately affected.

Research also shows that perceived discrimination — even when subtle or ambiguous — creates chronic stress that harms both mental and physical health.

Read more: Racism impacts your health

Polite racism also erodes trust. In a 2025 Statistics Canada study, 45 per cent of racialized Canadians surveyed reported experiencing discrimination in the past five years — experiences linked to lower life satisfaction and diminished faith in social cohesion and democratic institutions.

Why this matters for Canada

The exclusions enacted through polite racism wastes talent Canada cannot afford to lose. It also erodes faith in our democratic and social systems, leaving all of us more divided and less able to live up to the Canadian ideals we hold dear.

As Black studies professor Andrea A. Davis reminds us in Horizon, Sea, Sound: Caribbean and African Women’s Cultural Critiques of Nation, Caribbean women’s intellectual and cultural work has long shaped Canada, yet it is routinely overlooked even as institutions profit from it.

This is not just about fairness. It’s about whether Canada is willing to recognize and harness the full contributions of all its people.

Turning acknowledgement into action

Based on my academic findings, together with broader Canadian research, and my work as a consultant, here are five priorities to dismantle polite racism:

1. Increasing awareness and reducing fear: Training must move beyond theory to practice, helping managers (or faculty) and peers recognize subtle forms of exclusion and aversive racism as well as confronting the programmed fear of the “other” that underpins exclusion.

2. Reforming policy: Updating curricula and hiring practices to address embedded inequities and implicit barriers is not about special treatment. It ensures Canadian institutions benefit from the best ideas and the full range of talent, rather than silencing valuable perspectives.

Read more: Reckoning and resistance: The future of Black hiring commitments on campus

3. Inclusive representation: Integrating the histories and voices of racialized communities into education and public discourse strengthens Canada’s story. It allows our multiculturalism to becomes a true reflection of the people who built this country and continue to shape it.

4. Data and accountability: Just as Canadians expect transparency in economic or health data, we should also expect accountability in how inclusive our institutions truly are.

5. Well-being support: Mental health services attuned to the stress of polite racism support not only individuals but also organizational health. When people can thrive without carrying the extra burden of silent exclusion, institutions perform better, communities are stronger and society benefits.

These priorities are not “asks” from racialized communities — they are investments in Canada’s future.

Toward authentic inclusion

Polite racism persists because it is comfortable for those who benefit from it, and it allows institutions to maintain appearances while avoiding change.

Action begins with self-reflection — for everyone. For white Canadians, it means confronting the inherited assumptions and comforts of whiteness that sustain inequality. For racialized people, it involves acknowledging the exhaustion and internal conflicts that arise from navigating exclusion within spaces that claim inclusion.

For teachers, it means teaching in a way that is culturally responsive and that works to dismantle systemic barriers, including polite racism.

When inclusion makes us uncomfortable, that discomfort reveals our shared wounds — the psychic scars produced by living within a racial hierarchy. For some, these wounds stem from privilege unacknowledged; for others, from exclusion endured. Both must be faced if we are to build genuine connection and trust.

Read more: How to be a mindful anti-racist

Until we face these fears, Canada’s multiculturalism will remain polite on the surface, but exclusionary at its core. The opposite of polite racism isn’t impolite confrontation — it’s courageous honesty. It’s choosing truth over comfort, unity over silence.

This article is republished from The Conversation, a nonprofit, independent news organization bringing you facts and trustworthy analysis to help you make sense of our complex world. It was written by: Karine Coen-Sanchez, L’Université d’Ottawa/University of Ottawa

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Karine Coen-Sanchez does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.